Yale Indian Papers Project

The Lewis Walpole Library at Yale University is heading up a collaborative project with the Connecticut State Library; the Connecticut Historical Society; the Massachusetts Archives; and the National Archives of the United Kingdom, called the Yale Indian Papers Project.  The Project is involved in the creation of an extensive online database of primary documents pertaining to New England Native Americans.  The website describes the reasons behind this undertaking:

"In recent years, a number of scholars, researchers, and tribal members interested in New England Natives have noticed problems with the current state of resources on the topic.  Most obvious is a general lack of published primary source materials, despite the existence of thousands of relevant documents.  Equally problematic is access to these original materials.  Individuals needing to use such items are required to visit a number of repositories, mostly across the northeast.  Archaic or poor quality handwriting, or the restrictions placed on worn and fragile papers can further hinder the researcher’s task, making it time-consuming and costly."

The resulting database, titled The New England Indian Papers Series is a fantastic resource due to the access to the documents alone.  However, these letters; census results; court orders; deeds; and many other types of documents  have also been annotated and edited by Project scholars to make them more easily understandable to modern readers.

This project is definitely worth looking into and can be found at: http://www.library.yale.edu/yipp/index.html